Your license key is like the key to a new bike lock. You use it once, on each website, and then you can forget about it.

1. Open the License screen

   Click Legal Eagle in the WordPress menu on the left. If Legal Eagle isn't activated yet, the License screen opens by itself. Otherwise click License at the top, or License in the menu on the left.

2. Paste your key and press Activate

   Copy your key from the Access Center. Click in the License key box, paste it, then click Activate.

   A green message shows your plan, for example Activated: WP Legal Eagle Pro.

   TipThere's only one plugin. One key switches on everything you bought: Legal Eagle, Pro and Agency. There's nothing else to install.

3. Look for green dots

   Every level you bought has a green dot and says On. Levels you didn't buy have a grey dot and say Not included in your key. That's normal.

   A red dot? Read the words next to it. The most common ones are below.

Upgrading to Pro or Agency

Buy the upgrade and you're done. It uses the same key and the same plugin. The new features switch on by themselves within a few hours. To switch them on straight away, open License and click Check now.

What the words mean

Moving to a new website

1. On the old site: remove it

   Open the License screen, click Remove from this site, then click the Remove from this site button. That frees its slot.

2. On the new site: activate

   Install Legal Eagle on the new site and paste the same key.

Moved a site to a new address, or copied it? The License screen says so. Click Check now and it uses one of your key's sites at the new address.

Updating from an older version?

Since version 7, Pro and Agency are built into Legal Eagle. If you used an older version with separate Pro or Agency downloads, just update: the old ones switch off by themselves and everything keeps working, with the same key, settings and pages. A message then offers to delete them in one click. Your data is kept.

Legal Eagle looks after the legal side of your website. You set it up once, and it keeps itself up to date. This tour shows you around in 2 minutes.

It does three jobs for you

• Legal pages. It writes your Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, Cookie Policy and more, using your details.
• Cookie banner. It asks visitors before any tracking starts, and keeps trackers waiting until they say yes.
• Notices. It adds the little notes the law asks for, like "this post has affiliate links".

The tabs at the top

Everything lives in Legal Eagle in your WordPress menu. At the top of every screen you'll see these tabs:

• 1
  Home Your score and your to-do list. Start here every time.
• 2
  Legal Pages Your Privacy Policy, Terms and other legal pages.
• 3
  Cookie Banner The box that asks visitors about cookies.
• 4
  Settings Your business name and email, and a few extras.
• 5
  Help Opens the guide for the screen you're on. Stuck anywhere? Press it.
• 6
  Your score. The green, orange or red bubble is your Protection Score. Click it to go back Home.

The Protection Score

The big number on Home shows how well your site covers the legal basics. It goes from 0 to 100.

The four bars next to the score show where points are missing: Legal pages, Cookie consent, Disclosures and Privacy rights.

It keeps itself up to date

• Every week it checks your site again for new plugins, trackers and affiliate links.
• When you change your business details, every smart page updates by itself.
• If it finds something new (like a new tracking plugin), you'll see a note on Home.

The setup looks at your site, asks you two easy questions, and then builds everything for you. You don't need to know anything about the law.

1. Open the setup

   First, activate Legal Eagle with your license key (1 minute). The License screen then shows a Start setup button. If you closed it, click Legal Eagle in the WordPress menu on the left, then click Setup.

   You can also start it again any time from Settings with Run the setup again.

2. Wait a few seconds while it looks at your site

   It checks your plugins, reads your home page, and looks for trackers and affiliate links. A tick appears next to each line when it's done.

   Then you'll see Here's what we found, for example Google Analytics or YouTube videos. Click Continue.

   

3. Tell it who runs the site

   Check your Business or site name 1 and Contact email 2. They're filled in for you, so usually you just look and move on.

   Pick your Country 3, then click A business or Just me 4.

   

   TipUse an email you really read. Visitors use it to ask about their data, and the law gives you about 30 days to answer.

4. Check what your site does

   Under What does your site do? the things it found are already ticked, with a small Found label. Tap a tile to tick or untick it.

   

   For example, tick I sell products if you have a shop, or I use AI to write content if you do. Each tile adds the right words to your pages. Then click Continue.

5. Look at your plan

   Now you see Your protection plan. The legal pages you need are already ticked and say Recommended. Leave them ticked.

   Want an extra page, like a Refund Policy? Click Show more pages and tick it.

   

6. Pick how your cookie banner looks

   Choose Corner card, Bottom bar or Center pop-up, then click a color. You can change this later in Cookie Banner.

   Leave the switches below turned on . They turn on the banner, add links to the bottom of every page, and add affiliate notices where needed.

   

7. Tick the box and press the big button

   Tick the box that starts with I understand. It says these are templates, not legal advice.

   Press Protect my site. Watch the list tick itself off. After a few seconds you'll see You're protected!

   

8. Go to your dashboard

   Click Go to my dashboard. That's Home, where you'll see your Protection Score.

Home is your control room. It shows your Protection Score and a short to-do list. Most things on the list fix themselves when you press one button.

1. Look at your score

   Click Home. The ring 1 is your Protection Score, from 0 to 100. The words next to it tell you how you're doing.

   The four bars 2 show where points are missing. A full green bar means that part is done.

   

   What do the four bars mean?

   • Legal pages: your Privacy Policy, Terms and other pages are published and linked.
   • Cookie consent: the banner is on and trackers wait for a yes.
   • Disclosures: affiliate and AI notices, if your site needs them.
   • Privacy rights: visitors have a way to ask for their data.

2. Fix what's on the list

   Under Do these next you see what's missing, with the most important first. The number like +15 1 is how many points it adds.

   Press Fix it 2 and it's done for you. Some items have Open or Add details instead, which take you to the right place.

   

3. Or fix everything at once

   In a hurry? Press Fix everything for me at the top. It fixes every item that can be fixed with one click.

4. See what's already done

   Click things already done under the list to see everything that's in place. It's a nice list to show a client or your boss.

5. Check again after a change

   Added a new plugin, a YouTube video or a shop? Press Re-check my site. Your score and your pages update in a few seconds.

   You don't have to remember: Legal Eagle checks again by itself every week.

6. See what it found on your site

   The What we found on your site card lists the tracking tools and services on your site. The colored dot shows the kind:

   • Analytics: counts visitors, like Google Analytics.
   • Marketing: ads and pixels, like the Meta (Facebook) Pixel.
   • Preferences: videos and maps, like YouTube or Google Maps.
   • Necessary: things the site needs to work.

   

   Everything on this list goes into your Cookie Policy and your banner automatically.

7. Keep proof of what visitors chose

   Visitor choices shows how many visitors said yes, picked some, or said no in the last 30 days.

   If anyone ever asks you to prove you asked for consent, click Download proof of consent (CSV). It opens in Excel or Google Sheets. It never stores names or full IP addresses.

Legal Pages shows every legal page Legal Eagle can write for you. Each card tells you if the page is live, and gives you buttons to view or change it.

Read a page card

• 1
  Live · updates itself means the page is on your site and is a smart page (see below).
• 2
  View opens the page on your site, the way visitors see it.
• 3
  Edit opens it in the WordPress editor.
• 4
  Not created means the page doesn't exist yet. Press Create page and it's live in a second.

What is a smart page?

A smart page writes itself from your details. When you change your email in Settings, or add Google Analytics to your site, the page updates by itself. You never have to rewrite it.

Create a page

1. Open Legal Pages

   Click Legal Pages at the top.

2. Find the page and press Create page

   Find a card that says Not created, for example Refund Policy. Press Create page.

   If several recommended pages are missing, a big button at the top says Create 2 recommended pages. Press it to make them all at once.

3. Check it

   The card now says Live · updates itself. Press View to see it.

Write the page yourself (Make editable)

Want to change the words inside the page itself? Press Make editable on its card, then OK.

This turns the smart page into normal text that you can change like any other WordPress page. The card will then say Live · your own text.

Changed your mind? Press Switch to smart page on the card. The page becomes a smart page again. WordPress keeps your old text in the page's history, so nothing is lost.

Links at the bottom of every page

Scroll to the bottom of Legal Pages to the Footer links card. When the switch is on , a row of links to your legal pages shows at the bottom of every page of your site.

Turn it off only if your theme's footer already links to your legal pages. You can also put the links anywhere yourself with the shortcode [legal_eagle_links].

The cookie banner is the small box that asks visitors "Is it OK to track you?" Legal Eagle also keeps tracking tools waiting until the visitor says yes. That second part is what the law really cares about, and it happens automatically.

1. Make sure the banner is on

   Click Cookie Banner. The top card should say On, with a green switch . If it's gray, click the switch.

   

2. Pick a look

   Under Look, click Corner card, Bottom bar or Center pop-up 1.

   Click a Button color 2. The rainbow circle lets you pick any color, for example your logo's color. Then choose Light or Dark, and which corner.

   Watch the live preview on the right. It changes as you click. You can press its buttons to try them, and switch between Desktop and Phone.

3. Choose who has to say yes

   This is the most important choice on the screen.

   

   Choice	Pick it when…
   Everyone (Recommended)	You're not sure. Nobody is tracked until they say yes. It's the safest choice and it works everywhere.
   Smart	Most visitors are outside Europe and you want more of them counted in your analytics. Visitors in Europe and the UK still have to say yes. Everyone else can say no.
   Just inform	You have no visitors from Europe or the UK at all. It only shows a notice.

   Still not sure?Pick Everyone. You can't go wrong with it.

4. Leave Automatic protection on

   These switches do the hard work. Keep them all on :

   • Hold trackers until visitors say yes: pauses things like the Facebook Pixel and Hotjar until the visitor agrees.
   • Google Consent Mode v2: tells Google Analytics and Google Ads what the visitor chose. Google needs this for ads in Europe.
   • Floating privacy button: a small shield in the corner of your site, so visitors can change their mind.
   • Keep proof of consent: writes down each choice, without names.

   Remember the choice for is how long before the banner asks again. 180 days is a good choice.

   

5. Change the words (only if you want to)

   Click Change the words to open it. You can change the title, the message and the button names. Leave a box empty to use the standard wording, which already works well.

6. Save

   When you change something, a bar appears at the bottom with Save changes. Press it. You'll see Saved for a moment.

   

7. See it on your site

   Open your website in a private window (in Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N, on a Mac: Cmd + Shift + N). The banner appears on your first visit.

   

   After you choose, the banner goes away and remembers your choice. That's why you use a private window to see it again.

Settings holds your business details and a few extras. When you change something here, all your smart pages update by themselves.

1. Check your business details

   Click Settings. In Your business, check your Business or site name, Contact email and Country. Phone and address are optional, but good to add if you have them.

   

   TipMoved house or changed email? Change it here once, press Save changes, and every legal page is updated.

2. Tell it what your site does

   In What your site does, the red tiles are switched on. A FOUND label means Legal Eagle spotted it on your site by itself.

   Click a tile to switch it on or off. For example, click I sell products when you open a shop, or I give health tips if you write about health. Your pages add the right sections, and your to-do list on Home suggests any new page you need.

   

   Press Re-check my site to look for new things right now.

3. Choose your automatic notices

   In Automatic disclosures:

   • Affiliate notice on posts with affiliate links adds a short note to every post that has affiliate links, and only those posts.
   • "Made with AI help" note on all posts is for sites that use AI to write.

   Pick Top of post or Bottom. You can type your own wording, and the box below shows how it will look.

   

   Why top of post? The FTC (the U.S. trade regulator) says the notice must be easy to see before the reader clicks a link. Top of post is the safest place.

4. Turn on the age check (only for adult sites)

   Selling alcohol, vapes, or adult content? Turn on Ask visitors to confirm their age, choose the Minimum age, and type where under-age visitors should go. Everyone else can skip this.

5. Save

   Press Save changes in the bar at the bottom of the screen.

Shortcodes (you rarely need these)

Everything is added to your site automatically. Shortcodes are only for when you want something in a special place. Click a shortcode in the Shortcodes card to copy it, then paste it into any page or post.

Housekeeping

• Run the setup again starts the 3-minute setup from the beginning. Nothing is deleted.
• Delete Legal Eagle data when I delete the plugin: leave it off unless you're removing Legal Eagle for good. Your published pages are always kept.

Let's look at your website the way a brand-new visitor sees it. It takes 2 minutes, and it's the best way to know everything works.

1. Open your site in a private window

   A private window acts like a new visitor who has never been to your site.

   • Chrome or Edge: press Ctrl + Shift + N (Mac: Cmd + Shift + N).
   • Firefox or Safari: press Ctrl + Shift + P (Mac: Cmd + Shift + P in Firefox, Cmd + Shift + N in Safari).

   Type your website's address and press Enter.

2. Look for the cookie banner

   The banner should appear on your first visit. Press Customize to see the choices, then press Accept all or Reject all.

   

3. Find the privacy shield

   After you choose, a small round shield button 1 stays in the corner. Clicking it opens the banner again, so visitors can change their mind.

   

4. Scroll to the very bottom

   You should see a row of links 1: Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, Cookie Policy and the rest. Click one to make sure it opens.

   

5. Read your Privacy Policy

   Open the Privacy Policy. Check that your business name and email are right. It lists the services Legal Eagle found, like Google Analytics.

   

6. Open a post with affiliate links

   If you use affiliate links, open one of those posts. The affiliate notice 1 should be at the top (or bottom, if you picked that).

   

Something not quite right? Find your question below and click it to see the answer. Most fixes take less than a minute.